


i could be violet skies

by satirnine



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alien AU, Alien Biology, Alien Character(s), Aliens, Future Fic, M/M, Science Fiction, Shapeshifting, Xeno, because it is, can you tell that it's about aliens yet, dirks a morph beast, kinda futuristic world, morphing, slorp, sorry im terrible at tags, space travel, surprise surprise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-16 03:11:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16945875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satirnine/pseuds/satirnine
Summary: He was... something so unique. Upon first visit, he stared forward with pointed, sculpted marble features and a plain, stoic look on his face. He had eyes so inhumanly human, pulling one into a trance and giving the only hint that he might not be all he originally cracked up to be. Shocking hair melded into black, dripping down the human mask, until he was only a pair of those inhumanly human eyes peering through a black nonsense, a flash of inner color as a strange language fell from his lips. To even call him a 'he' was based on human societal expectations, despite him truly bending all of the rules humans ever thought solid.Jake fell absolutely ass over crown for this anomaly. And now he has to figure out his feelings and his standing. What is one to do when handed something so magnificent, only to realize it's so miserable?[This is my first ever alien fic, gimme a hot minute and a bit of patience to truly get this right]





	i could be violet skies

**Author's Note:**

> i know i might be notorious for not finishing fanfics... but we're trying a thing anyway
> 
> welcome to the barely edited trial run of "aliens and gays and girls oh my"

Sometimes Jake wished he was still back on his own island, with all the flowering wildlife and the constant chitter chatter of animals. The rustling of the wind, the soft footsteps that might allude to what animal was nearby. The brisk wind, the rocky terrain. He could run about, cause havoc, get lost: all on his own terms. He missed that dearly. He often spent nights sat up at the window, tracing lines in the frost or fog, opening up the view of the world outside his window, the condensation catching on his finger and sliding down deeply tanned skin. He would doodle into the night until a new line might ruin a previous image, or until all the doodles would melt away, the water beading up and finally falling down to pool at the bottom of the window. After the window became a warped image, he'd look out and daydream about waltzing into those woods, climbing up trees and doing the childish things he used to do.

He can't complain too heavily. He really does have it nice here. After all, he's famous now. Or something like that. He had been found on his island, a small landmass none of the humans had known about, for whatever odd reason. He had trailed out to find what was disturbing the wildlife that day, when a small aircraft had landed on the beach of his island, and when they spotted him, they immediately took him in. He doesn't love to remember it. It wasn't traumatic at all, no, of course not. He was treated very nicely, even asked if he wanted to leave. He didn't want to leave, but he accepted their offer to check him over out of worry, concerned at how a man around the age of 20 had managed to live on an island by himself with no recollection of a parent well into his earliest memories. When they had flown him inland (it was quite an experience — flying for the first time), they took him to a medical building or whatnot (Jake didn't have the time to consider the precise building he was sent to) and upon doing some poking and prodding and questioning, Jake wasn't returned to his island.

He wasn't human. Or so they said. The doctors had informed him he had alien DNA. He might have been surprised, but instead, he was just mildly annoyed. What kind, he had asked, treekal or troll? It didn't quite matter, did it? He didn't understand why it was such a huge deal. Since decades, trolls and treekals had cohabited with humans. Trolls had been humans first contact. They visited Earth and proceeded to try to invade it and take over. After a long feud, war, and many deaths, the trolls and humans managed to come to an agreement. They now lived in harmony, slowly advancing upon the final frontier. The first alien species the trolls and humans had found together was upon a dying planet, few creatures living on. The treekals came into the image, having easily conformed to Earth and its culture. In a much less brutal way, treekals had become yet another species cohabiting with humans.

Despite the frustration, the doctor had told him it wasn't DNA they had ever seen before. At hearing this news, Jake's stomach dropped. He knew of stories, book, comics. Images, scenes, and paragraphs flashed through his head of characters being dissected, tested on, turned into experiments, due to being different or new. He worried for himself. But... they never did such things. They monitored him for a while, checked his vital processes, and he was free to go. 

Well, he was supposed to be. When he got out of the hospital room they kept him in for tests, he had learned he was... quite famous now. The news that he had alien genes in him that didn't show physically was some news to be cherished to the people. And with that ki under his belt, going home wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. He was immediately pursued by Jane Crocker, a friendly business woman who convinced him to come help her with a project.

The Alien Understanding and Protection Project. (Upon first visit, a man named Dave pronounced it as ‘ayeOOP’ and since then Jake has refused to call it anything else.) When trolls had opened up the final frontier to humans, aliens were on the mind. Trolls and treekals integrated easily into human society, and humans into theirs. But, those species were just stepping stones into the intricate biology and delicate cultures of any other alien culture humans might stumble upon to. The AUP Project was designed by Crocker Co., the leading company in interplanetary trade and communications. Jane Crocker headed the project, only under the instruction of the CEO of Crocker Co. This project was designed to integrate alien species slowly into our society. New species would first be taken into this project, and then slowly introduced to human customs and languages as the humans poked and prodded and learned the alien’s own language and biology. 

It was a wonderful project, with great support and success. It had not yet released any alien species to the earth, but they regularly released progress reports that immediately went viral with each release. And with Jake’s arrival into the project, their fame only skyrocketed. Jake was meant to represent the project, his eager, foolhardy personality perfect for reports and assuring everyone the strides the project was making. He was only at the facility to hype the project and help socialize the aliens. It was a nice job, and why would he ever complain? He was given a living, wonderfully baked free food, the best technology the world had to offer at his hands, and the thrill of meeting new aliens and interacting with them daily.

Jake was always bored. Bored and antsy, wanting to stretch his legs and get out. He would always be let out when the new species were introduced to the outside world, but those were few and far between. Nothing interesting happened. Most days, Jake spent in one of the lounges or common rooms, curled up on a couch or seat, his holographic movie player perched on his knee, playing whatever movie was free to his viewing. He was usually accompanied by John, a treekal that hung around the compact. Jake figured he was here because of the goggles on his face, something he came off planet with. Not many of the other treekals had these, and everyone was trying to figure out just what they were. Once John had realized that’s all they were curious about, he refused to tell them, the little rascal he was. He’d just smile a buck toothed crooked grin, lips sealed tight over what they were.

This lazy life wasn’t something Jake was used to, or something he liked. He always felt wrong when he went to bed: off and not fulfilled. He wanted his adventure back. While it seemed exciting to be in the project, for him it was really just a lot of laying about and medical exams. He was desensitized to the prickling sensation of being near aliens, viewing them as just another friend he’d known for a while. 

The boring days opened up to excitement once Broderick Strider returned from his recent voyage. Excitement pulsed into the occupants of the Project, and soon enough Jake was eagerly dragging a tired John to the dock, peering at the recently landed ship sitting still like a falcon at rest. John steadied himself between Jake and the railing of the platform they stood on, tail curling around the bars to steady himself. Jake gripped the bar, jittering in excitement as the doors on the personal ship cocked open, platform coming down from the orange eagle. Jake leaned forward.

Normally this wouldn’t cause excitement, Broderick simply returning. But the group of scientists down at the landing port suggested that something has happened. Jake could feel the suspense bubbling up inside of him, causing his hands to grip the bar much too tightly.

Broderick came out of the ship, guiding another male behind. A human male. The other male seemed to have jelly legs, not knowing just how to walk on them, and when he looked up, his image seemed to finally solidify. Jake rubbed his eyes, sure he was just seeing things. John finally perked up at his side, and Jake nearly held his breath, waiting for something to happen. 

Nothing did. They stood around for a moment, talking. The new boy looked around, stoic gaze falling onto all of the trolls, humans, treekals, and other aliens alike, until they fell onto Jake. A shudder ran through his spine as he made eye contact with bright orange eyes that seemingly glowed. Despite casting no light to high, speckled cheeks, nor discoloring the pale eyelashes curling up from his eye, those eyes glowed. The pupil was ever changing, sliding from shapes Jake could recognize into shapes unknown to him. He got pulled into the kaleidoscope of those eyes, drawing him away from the rest of the face, which he might have recognized was the face of Broderick, but slimmer, and changed just enough to appear as someone else. Despite the man looking dead at him, the pupils seemed to shudder, impatient and nervous even as they settled on Jake. He wondered if the creature could see multiple things at once, if those eyes were not only focused on him, but on John, on the human next to him, and the wall behind him. That seems like a headache. 

When those eyes looked away, Jake felt something tug at his gut, like he was missing something. He had to ignore it though, as a small commotion started on the deck. They started to lead out the new person, and Jake had half the mind to trail after them. He knew he would get turned away and sent back to his room, so he didn’t, instead just watched as they lead the stranger off. He’d have to be patient. But being in here didn’t seem so bad now. He had something to anticipate.

 

It came quicker than he thought. New species usually went through a long period of understanding language and trying to speak English, but Jake was surprised when Dave came out just a week later and plopped down next to Jake on the couch, snatching up John’s tail and messing with the fur.  
“I hate to deprive my favorite two aliens from their extraordinary rewatching of Con Air for the billionth time, but I need you two.” He hummed, brushing the fur of John’s fluffy tail down. John stuck his nose up from Jake’s shoulder, looking at Dave and cocking his head to the side, humming the note that has come to be known as the questioning noise. It was helpful to have a universal note of confusion for all the aliens when they didn’t know how to properly voice their confusion. “That new guy? He’s ready for stage A. And Crocker’s chosen you two to help socialize him while we still try to get him to gab out to us. He’s not great with speaking. Or making any noise other than weird throat noises and some tidbits of various languages. English is hard for him.”

So Jake would get to meet this stranger, finally. “Golly, for real? That quick? He must be quick as a hare at learning! Must be thanks to your brilliance, eh, Strider?” Jake grinned, sitting up and nudging Dave’s shoulder. He shut down his holographic video player, oblivious to the strange look that passed over Dave’s face. John shifted next to Jake, that same note coming out again, but Dave ignored it, leaving John frustrated and frowning. 

“Yeah, totally. Now come on, let’s get hoppin’. Jane’s impatient with this alien. He just looks so damn human, and so much like Bro. She wants to pry into his info. He seems intelligent, just stubborn.” Dave stood up, adjusting the bomber jacket over his shoulders as he looked away, already walking forward. John thrummed anxiously at Jake’s side and Jake gave him a pat on the head before getting up and trailing after Dave, letting John follow him while still thrumming. What was John so focused on? He seemed to be staring at Dave, a skeptical, questioning look in his big, bright eyes. Surely he was just anxious about meeting the new stranger. 

They arrived to stage A, the section of the building that had the smallest area. It was just a few series of rooms, meant to help aliens feel more accustomed and slowly trickle into knowing other species. When Dave lead them there, a troll was already sitting outside the door, boredly staring at a wall until she heard Dave’s footsteps and looked over, a soft smile gracing her black painted lips. “Hello, Dave. Are we ready?”

“Sure as hell are, Maryam. In case you don’t remember, you guys can sleep in your dorms, but hang out only in here with Dirk. And don’t let him out. Oh yeah, Jake, John, he responds to Dirk well enough, so that’s what we’re naming him until he spews out some other name.” Dave seems to check off his mental list, before he turns to the door, swipes his keycard, and the door slides open to reveal the common room of stage A. Dave tosses keycards to the three others, and sweeps his arm into the doorway. “Have fun. I’ll be visiting every now and then… well, pretty often. I’m starting to grasp his language and noises so I’ll be in and out more often to keep him relatively communicated. Y’all have some time to like… figure out territories and shit. Don’t hurt him. No fights. Calm, peaceful, and dorky in Egbert’s case. Capisce?”

“Capisce.” Jake returns, John grinning at his side and the troll nodding. 

“Cool. Peace out, I need a 5 hour nap. I’m replacing you with Karkat, John.” Dave whisks away to John’s eye roll, and the three head in. 

Dirk’s sitting on a couch, his eyes cast downward as he pulls at a loose thread of a pair of sweatpants he was given. Kanaya, as assumed by the name on the keycard she placed around her neck, stepped over to the couch. Those bright orange kaleidoscope eyes looked up, finding their way to the jade blooded troll, and a strange noise came from the male. His mouth opened, but instead of anything remotely human, something more of a guttural click slid out of his mouth. Kanaya, the dear, didn’t seem phased, and instead gave a smile and an alternian click back. It was nothing like the throaty noise Dirk had made, but it was close enough that he seemed to perk up. John, too antsy for his own good, ended up bounding over, perching himself up on the couch next to Dirk and peering excitedly through his thick goggles at the new male.

Dirk had startled, but instead of taking a moment to really calm down, he reached out, hesitated, before his hand followed the trail of his eyes. He was staring at John’s legs and tail, his hand finding purchase on the thick tail. John, ever the comfortable bean, easily relaxed, letting Dirk grasp at his feet and tail all he damn pleased.

Treekals were the most different appearing of the inhabitants of Earth. Despite the trolls being very alien, they were surprisingly human like, the main difference being the pigment of their skin, their horns and their more bug-like reproduction habits. Treekals were something else. Living on a planet that had a terrible surface state, they had evolved to be an underground dwelling species. They had strong lower arms and large feet, like that of a gerbil but much thicker and about the size of a human leg. They had the kicking power of a giant rabbit, and the wide eyes, buck teeth, and twitching nose to boot. They had fur on their legs, extra fluffy hair, and darker, warm complexions. Most of the treekals around even had speckled, freckled, splotted, dotted skin, all assumed to be adequate camouflage for the ground they lived in. John had speckles and splotches of darker skin mostly on his face and shoulders, the rest of him tan with dark brown fur and a mess of dark black hair. His bright blue eyes were the most striking of his colors.

Standing, treekals commonly stood up on their hind legs, fitting the heights of the average humans, and their thick tails would trail behind them, keeping them balanced and aware of their surroundings. The most improper but not incorrect way to describe a treekal was a rabbit-gerbil-human. They had more pointed features, with a nose elongated more like a snout but still human enough. 

Dirk, who must have only seen humans and trolls (treekals with their large hands weren’t the best for medical procedures or being calming… those big ol’ paws can be just short of intimidating) must have been enamored by John, because he started toying with those big hind legs, pressing against all three toes and poking at the thick, calloused pads. John just giggled from his place on his back, 4 fingered hands coming up to pat at his goggles as he snorted. Dirk was unphased by the noises, and everything settled into a calm moment as Kanaya settled into the chair nearby, and Jake trailed over to hover behind the couch.  
Before Dirk got bored of the big paws, he looked down at his own feet. After moving them for a moment, he apparently decided human legs weren’t the ones for him. Jake found himself staring as an unnerving image unfolded in front of him. Those previously human legs in sweatpants seemed to just change bone structure, knee protruding more and his foot just… growing, until his legs were no longer human legs, but treekal legs. The sweatpants sat weirdly on the legs (the reason John always pounced around in his shorts, you couldn’t get him to wear anything else), and Dirk shook out the leg before he pushed himself up from the couch, wobbling and staggering forward on his new legs.

Everything was silent. John’s giggling ceased, and he was instead staring at Dirk, and after tearing his eyes away from the male, Jake looked over and found Kanaya absolutely dumbfounded as well. 

Dirk looked back at John, and after a moment, ears morphed into the pointed treekal ears, hands swelled, the tank top draped over his back lifted to let a tail grow from his spine, and Dirk had shifted into his own kind of treekal. Nothing like what a real treekal would look like, colors too bright and blonde to fit typical treekals, but a treekal in shape none the less. 

Dirk wasn’t a humanoid at all.

No one knew what he was.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for getting through the first little bit
> 
> fair warning if youre hooked: i dont entirely know just how much im going to put into this  
> aka the rating/warnings might change if i end up going more in depth than first expected  
> and the tags will change often  
> because i am an indecisive human and never know what the fuck im going to shove in this fic
> 
> also, if you think i need to add a tag or something along the lines, feel free to tell me! and if you have any critique, hmu!!!! i'd love to hear it, i'm trying to improve my shit


End file.
